MINSK, 12 February (BelTA) – Payment systems Belkart (Belarus) and Mir (Russia) have signed a cooperation agreement. In line with the agreement, the Belkart cards will be accepted in the territory of Russia and the Mir cards can be used in the territory of Belarus in 2019, BelTA learned from Belkart Payment System.
The parties voiced their plans to issue Belkart payment cards with a chip using the technology of the Russian National Card Payment System that operates the Mir cards and to service Mir cards in the territory of Belarus using the infrastructure of the banks incorporated into the Belkart payment system. In turn, Belkart cards will be accepted within the banking infrastructure of the Mir payment system and its partners.
The Belkart payment system was established in 1994. It is part of Belarus' national payment system. As of 1 October 2018, over 5.6 million Belkart cards were in circulation. The share of cashless transactions using Belkart cards is estimated at 82.22% (number of transactions) and 39.20% (volume of transactions).
Mir is a national payment system established by the Central Bank of Russia. Over 320 banks are incorporated into this system, with more than 150 banks issuing Mir cards. All in all, over 53 million Mir cards have been issued.
